Avity Investment Management Inc. Acquires 102,816 Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. $CMG

Avity Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) by 1,572.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,354 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 102,816 shares during the quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $3,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CMG. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the second quarter worth about $4,417,475,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,478,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $527,469,000 after buying an additional 2,727,762 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 23.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,980,192 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $383,486,000 after buying an additional 2,266,087 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 86.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,973,752 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $383,280,000 after buying an additional 5,541,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,845,627 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $368,751,000 after buying an additional 2,541,795 shares in the last quarter. 91.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Chipotle Mexican Grill

Here are the key news stories impacting Chipotle Mexican Grill this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue rose 9.6% to $3.29 billion, in line with expectations, while comparable-restaurant sales increased 2.1% and transactions grew for the third consecutive quarter. Value offers and limited-time menu items helped attract diners. Chipotle beats quarterly sales expectations on resilient demand
• Positive Sentiment: Investors responded favorably to signs of a traffic recovery following earlier food-safety concerns. New menu launches, refreshed loyalty benefits and plans to accelerate technology and menu innovation are supporting the turnaround. Chipotle Sales Beat as New Chicken, Chips Bring Diners Back
• Positive Sentiment: Chipotle opened 84 company-owned restaurants during the quarter, and its loyalty program surpassed 24 million members, providing additional long-term growth and customer-engagement potential. Chipotle: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts maintained bullish ratings, including DA Davidson and BTIG Research at $45 targets and Oppenheimer at a $51 target, implying substantial upside based on the supplied reference price. Oppenheimer analyst rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains mixed: Citigroup kept a Buy rating while cutting its target to $41, whereas BNP Paribas Exane retained Neutral and reduced its target to $36. Bernstein also lowered its target to $43 from $50. Citigroup price target
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted earnings were $0.27 per share, below the $0.29 consensus and last year’s $0.29, as higher operating costs, beef prices and increased protein usage pressured margins. Chipotle Q3 earnings miss estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Management’s outlook calls for only modestly higher sales, leaving investors dependent on the fourth-quarter brisket launch, continued traffic gains and successful cost management to sustain the recovery. The rest of Chipotle’s year hinges on brisket

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Matthew R. Bush sold 2,675 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $95,631.25. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 21,415 shares in the company, valued at $765,586.25. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on CMG shares. Citigroup cut their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho cut their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $43.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (down from $45.00) on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Thursday. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.47.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock traded up $2.60 during trading on Thursday, reaching $31.33. 42,432,740 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,084,094. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.21. The company has a market capitalization of $39.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.96. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.31 and a 52-week high of $41.42.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 54.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Company Profile

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc (NYSE: CMG) operates a chain of fast-casual restaurants focused on Mexican-inspired food. Its menu includes burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, quesadillas and salads, with options such as chicken, steak, barbacoa, carnitas, sofritas and vegetables. The company emphasizes preparing food in its restaurants from ingredients it describes as responsibly sourced, including meats raised with attention to animal welfare and produce from selected suppliers.

Founded by Steve Ells in 1993, Chipotle opened its first restaurant in Denver, Colorado.